Trap-door.



PATENTTB MAR. 31.1908. L. J'. BERG.

TRA? DOOR. lPLIGATION FILEMAR. 19, 1907.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

Even .Iza

PATENTEDMAB. 3l, 1908.

L.,J. BERG.

TRAP DOOR APPLIOATION rILED MAR.19, 1907.

Mmm WML/ UNITED-:STATES PATENT onirica.

LABS J. BERG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO METALLIC SHEATHING COMPANY, `CORPORATIOY OFILLINOIS. i

TRAP-DOOR.

To all whom it 'may concern.'

Be it known that I, LARs J. BERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago., in the county of Cook and Stateof Illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements Trap-Doorsl for vestibule-Cars, of

, which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trap doors of the character ordinarily used for closing the stair openings on theplatform of a vestibule, car,

which openings are always closed when the step are not in use. e object of the invention is to provlde spring mechanism for automatically raising :13 e

or into vertical position against the end of the car and out of the way of passengers ascending or descending the steps.

The invention more particularly re ates to the method of positioning and adjusting the spring, and to the means employed for imparting caspring action, of the re uired degree, tothe trap door when release The invention further relates to the door body, to the journal mounting for the ac- 2'5 tuating parts, to the mounting for the spring,

and to the device as a whole and the individual parts thereof.

l The lnvention consists in the features of 'construction and combination of parts here- Specifcation ofLetters Patent.

4Application lled March 19,` 1907. Serial No. 363,207.

Patented Marc-11 31, y1908.

car. wardly extending door jambQ, to-which the At the outer corner of the car is a forside door, not shown, vofhthe platformvis" hinged thev ordinary Ina-nner. These features are common to all vestibule cars, and

end with Kan outwardly projecting stud 1,4, '1;0*

which 1s .jbifrnaled within a socket plate 15 rovided with reinforcing which is secured to the inner edge of the vestibule door j amb near thelower end thereof.v The opposite or inner end of the plate 12 has formed on its under face a socket lug 16, lwhich has formed therein an angular socket hole 17. The socket hole receives the s uared end 18 of an operating shaft 19, w ich shaft. is provided at its inner end with a bearing stud 20 of slightly reduced diame'- ter, and is likewise provided, near its outer end, with a-bearinv recess or channel 21 of the same reduced diameter, which stud and 30 Vinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a car platform, partly broken away and showing the door. in raised position;

Fig. 2 a sectional view of the door, showing, 3.5V in elevation, the actuating mechanism; Fig. 3 a top or plan view of the operating mechchannel afford shoulders for preventing endwise displacement of the shaft. f

The shaft is journaled on the upper ed e o a bracket plate 22 of angular formation, aving forwardly extending arms 23 and 24, provided with journal recesses 25'and 26, respectively, which recesses afford journal 'anism and one end, of the door plate; Fig. 4

the opposite end of the door plate, showingthe journal mounting/therefor; Fig. 5 a

40cross vsectional view of' the door, lowered,

showing the actuating rod in section; Fig. 6 an under face view of the platform, showing the' referred methodof construction; Fig. 7 a si eelevation of the locking latch, showing 4S`5. the edge df the door in section; Fig. -8 an under ace view of the latch plate and Fig.

u 9 a cross section of the spring cage 'The door of the resent invention, as shown in Fig. 1', is app ied to a car platform 5 60' having Va stair opening l6 bf the usualcharacter. lThel stair opening is limited at its -ont side by the buffery beam 7 of the car,

'and at its-rear side by the -end wall 8 of the j bearings for the bearing stud 20 and channel 21 on the shaft, `permitting rotation ofthe shaft and preventing vibration or displacement. The bracket late 22 is secured between the riser boar 27 of the up erste and a longitudinally extending plat orm sig 28, theouter and inner side arms 24 and 23 being bolted or otherwise 'secured to the riser board andl sill, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1. The journa shaft 1s positionec immediately beneath the lloor of the car latform, so that it is hidden from sight, andp at the same time its o eramounting for the tion is not interfered with. The sha t ,19

has integrally formed therewith an arm. 29,V

whicheXt-ends at substantially right 'angles to theplane of the trap door, so that-when.:

of thearm bymeans 4of a ivot pin 32. rod- `31 extends forward,

thedoor is raised, as indicated in Fig. 1, the arm. 29 will eitend forward, and when the trap door is lowered, as shown in Fig. 2, the arm will extend downward.

erating rod 31, which is pivoted to the end The eneath the vestibule platform, and is entered into the end of a cage 33, having side. bars 34 provided near their ,forward ends with longitudinally extending slots 35, and' the side vbars at their rear end are connected by a cross head36 through whichthe operating rod eXftends.

'i The operating rod extends within the cageV for a considerable. distance and is encircled -lby a coil spring 37, which,- at its rear'end',

' of Aadjustnrient- `tovbe regulated. The'forwa'rd ends o ablyv mounted on the operating rod 3.1 and is adapted to be positioned at a suitable oint screw-threaded onto the end of the operating rod. This permits the tension of the spring the side bars 34 are brought together, as indilcated in Fig. .3, to provide contacting tongues 41 which are entered between ears 42 rearwardly extending from a plate 43 secured to the buer bear-n.l lThe tongues are pivoted 4by means of a pivot'pin or bolt 44.

The trap door late orbody 1.0 is prefer ably provided wit diagonal ribs l()a and parallel ribs 10b, and is covered by a covering of rubber tiling 45 which is fastened to wooden strips 10C laid in the channels of the ribs,

. which tiling is. secured around 'its edge by a -lip ofmetal 46 on the edge ofthe body, which overlies the rubbertiling and unites the metal body and at the same time gives a suitable finish for the edge of the trap door.

rlhe bar 12 is provided at its rear edge with an overhanoinor li 47 which serves the same function for the pivoted edge of the door. that is served by the lips 46 on the other three These features, however, l

edges of .the door. l may be varied to correspond to thenish of the vestibule platform to which the trap door is ap lied. The door is adapted to be held close by a snap latch 48 which fs rovided witha beveled face 49 and is adapte to enter' a recess 5() for-med in theedge ofgthe-door,

which recess is adjacent to ahand hole or socket 51 on the right side of the door 'near the edge thereof.

The latch is pivoted within a recess 52 in a de ending fiange 53 on the edge of va flat latch lp ate 54 which is embedded in the edge of the buffer beam. The

latch is adapxted to be retracted by means of.

a link 55 for ed atits end 56, which fork end v embraces a triangular leverarm 5,7 pivoted at f The end 30 ofl the arm is divided .to receive the end of an opide the rod ymeans of a nut 40 Whichi's Iplace. 4

In use, the bolt 40 may be adjusted to any 'desired 'position to bring the .sprinr to a. proper tension to raise the door easil its lower corner 58 between a pair of ears `59 -tered throu h a vertical operating rod 61,

within whic it isheld by means of a pin 62 which is adapted to travel within a'slot 63 in the lever arm as the rodis raised-and lowered.

The rod at its upper end is provided with a vknob 64, the rod being .slidably mounted `4within a housing l65, Whichis secured' to thefront wall ofthe vestibule at` a suitable height to permit the rodto `be depressed by-the action of fthe foot. The rod within the cage is surrounded' by a coil spring 66 which bears againslta collar 67 on the rod, andy also against the innerwall of thehousing.- The" upwa/rd movement of the rod is limited by an exterior v:collar 69 which bears against the under vface of the housing. The 'operatin-v rod is passed throuifh the buffer beam an projects `below the llower edge. 'thereof and terminates in a knob 70 which permits the trap door to be raised from 'a point'outside of thecar. i The referred Iconstruction of the lplatform is indicated inFig. 6. Likev a trap oor, the platform comprises a body lplate 71 provided with diagonally extending ribs 72 and transverselyv extending-ribs 73 which serve to reinforce the structure; and the platform, like the trap door, is covered by rubber tiling, .the edges 'of the metal bein .overturned to form lips 74 which overlie t e edge of the rubber tilingand noiselessly without slamming it back against the wall of the car. When the door-is in raised position, the arm 29 will be forwardly extended, which relieves the spring from tension. However, when the door is lowered the arm 29 will be moved back into the position indicated in Fig. 1, thereby drawing back with it'the operating rod 31 and compressing the spring. The movement of the cage, incidental to the swinging ofthe arm 29, is permitted by the ivotal mounting for the cage. i The snap loclli) 48 holds the door in its normal position, but as soon as the lock is released the door will swing u into'upright position, out'of the-way of t e assengers,

fed bythe vestibule side door, which opens inwardly against theend of the car. As the door'rises from yhorizontal to' vertical position, the

and into position to be concea ower required to lift the door will decrease msubstantially the same ratio as the tension on the s ring, so thataneasy, steady movement vo the .door'will'v result and no slamming orviolent movement will be occaand `secure the ,same in *die tension of the spring and the weight of the door.V

The lock is intended to be operated, either frolnwithin or without the car, by a down? Ward movement of the operating rod, which serves to draw down the outer end of the triangular lever arm which is ermitted-to swing on its pivot by reason of t e slot therein; and this movement of the lever arm draws back the link and with it the latch Whichserves to release the door and allow it to swing up into vertical position. This release of the latch would ordinarily be performed by'pressure of the foot on the upper knob, althouvh it can be performed by a pull on the lower knob. The construction of the trap door and car platform is one which permits a light grade of plate metal to be-employed Which is rendered sufficiently stii by reason of the ribs, Whichfurthermore serve as channels f or the reception ofwooden strips to Which the tiling 1s attached. Furthermore, the overturned li s around the edges of the trap door andtiie platform obviate the necessity for using binding strips of metal, and at the same time render 'the structure more strong and ri id than would be the case in use of such bin ing strips.

The operating parts of the device are ,en-

ltirely concealed beneath the car latform, the

end only of the shaft pro'ecting rom the riser of the upper step, and t is arran ement permits; the tra door to be very quicky and easily removed, i desired, by removing the socket plate 15 and thereafter `drawing back the deler to disengage the socket stud 16 from thesquared end of the shaft. The trap door 1s planned with special reference to the ordi-l nary construction oi vestibule cars, but it is not intended to be limited exclusively tocar construction, since the door and actuating mechanism can be used in other capacities in which a trap door is required.

the lips, substantially as lVhat I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination of a door, a shaft connected with the door,.an arm on the shaft, a`

rod pivoted to the arm, a pivotally mounted cage into which the arm 1s entered, a guide plate on the free end of the arm and slidably mounted Within the cage and a spring surrounding the arm within the cage and adapted to be put under tension by a movement of the arm in one direction, and released from tension by a movement of the arm in .the opposite direction, substantially as described.

' 2. The combination of a trap door, a shaft for swinging the door, an arm on the shaft, a rod connected With the arm,` 'a spring ada ted to be put under tension when the rodp is moved in one direction and released from tension when the rod is moved in another di rection, a latch adapted to hold the door L i locked, a link adapted to retract the latch., a vertically movable rod, a pivoted lever com nected with the rod'and connected with 'the link, and a spring for returning the rod'to normal position, substantially as described.

3. A vestibule car trap door comprising a metallic body provided with reinforcin ribs and provided around its edges with over ying lips, and a tiling secured to the surface oi the door and retained in lace by the overlying lips, substantially as escribed.

4. A vestibule car trap door comprising a metallic body provided with diagonal reinforcing ribs and parallel reinforcing ribs and having around its edge an .overturned lip, Wooden strips entered into the channe s formed by the ribs, and a rubber tiling secured to the wooden stri s and retained by escribed. LARS J. BERG. `W'itnesses:

SAMUEL W. BANNING, WALKER BANNING. 

